Time to take a trip to The Far Side of the moon. Gary Larson’s fascination with science and adventure found the perfect synthesis in the moon landings of the 1960s and ’70s. While the importance of space exploration faded from prominence for many Americans in the ’80s and ’90s, it remained an obsession for Larson, who spun it into comedic gold the way only he could.
The gravity of the moon is much weaker than Earth’s, which made it an ideal setting for The Far Side’s signature brand of levity. Larson loved to put astronauts in various predicaments during their visits to the moon, including encounters with extraterrestrials that usually didn’t go so well. No matter how often The Far Side took a trip to the moon, the jokes were always a welcome, refreshing departure from Earth.
The Far Side was always out of this world, but the comic’s visits to space were something special whenever they popped up in syndication in the funny pages. The moon proved to be a pitch perfect Far Side location, one that provided 10/10 laughs time and again for cartoonist Gary Larson.
“It’s Only A Paper Moon”
First Published: June 1, 1994
“Say it’s only a paper moon/sailing over a cardboard sea/but it wouldn’t be make believe/if you believed in me.” That’s how the ’30s jazz standard “It’s Only A Paper Moon” goes. It’s a classic that has been sung by everyone from Ella Fitzgerald and Nat King Cole to Frank Sinatra, to the Frank Sinatra-type character Vic Fontaine on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
The song inspired the title of a Peter Bogdanovich movie in the 1970s, and a network sitcom around the same time. (The song was the show’s theme, naturally.) So, the track has a long pop culture legacy, which this mid-90s Far Side cartoon is part of. Here, Gary Larson’s brilliant comedic spin on song’s chorus comes down to the crucial use of ellipses and italics.
“Say…” one astronaut says to another as he rips the surface of the moon in two, pausing dramatically before the “shocking reveal”: “it’s only a paper moon,” with paper italicized for further emphasis. Making the song’s figure of speech literal is the basis for the joke, but what makes this a perfect Far Side is Larson’s ability to convey the inflection of the dialogue.
“Shake The Jar And See If They’ll Fight”
First Published: July 7, 1988
Aliens were among The Far Side’s MVPs. Gary Larson loved to draw aliens, and one recurring idea Larson had about aliens was the almost Lovecraftian sense that they would be massive beings that looked down on humans as insignificant insects. Variations on this joke formed the basis of several classic Far Side panels.
Including this one. Once again, Larson frames the scene as what happens immediately after a lunar lander touches down on the moon. This time, its pair of unfortunate astronauts are scooped up and put in a jar by two huge, purple aliens with tentacles. “Pretty cool, Dewey,” one says to the other, before making a suggestion: “Shake the jar and see if they’ll fight!“
Some people find the idea of humanity’s cosmic insignificance terrifying, but Larson found it hilarious, and flawless Far Side punchlines like this one were the result.
“Now Look Where The Earth Is!”
First Published: May 22, 1984
Gary Larson was a master of tropes. If a stand-up comedian or a late night talk show host made a joke about something between the years 1950 and 1994, chances were Larson clocked it, and probably turned it into a Far Side cartoon. That includes The Far Side’s many cartoons about marital strife.
Here, the joke is “men are terrible drivers who would rather get lost on the moon than ask for directions.” It’s a punchline that wouldn’t be out of place in the opening/closing of a Seinfeld episode, or in one of Jay Leno’s opening monologues. With The Far Side, Gary Larson makes a scene out of it, with the wife in the passenger seat at her wits’ end, her dialogue making it clear they’ve been up there for awhile.
“Now look where the earth is!,” she shouts at “Elroy,” demanding to take a turn driving; readers can infer he’s not going to give up the wheel that easily. All told, this lunar cartoon is The Far Side at its hyperbolic best.
“First!” (The Far Side’s Real “Space Race”)
First Published: May 30, 1983
Fundamentally, The Far Side was a universe ruled by silliness. Silliness that often led to catastrophic consequences for the people of The Far Side. Especially the adventurous and explorative ones. That vibe is perfectly encapsulated here, in a cartoon featuring a trio of astronauts scrambling out of their lander, pushing and shoving each other because each wants to be “first” to set foot on the surface.
Unlike many other Far Side comics, disaster doesn’t strike here, but the looks in the characters’ eyes make it clear they know this this is dangerous behavior. On that level, the joke is accessible to just about everyone, but as was often the case with with Gary Larson’s humor, there’s also a highbrow interpretation.
Which stems from the question “how did NASA choose the order in which astronauts stepped on the moon?” The real answer is a mix of rank and other logistics taken into account, but The Far Side’s farcical interpretation is that it was a mad schoolyard-esque scramble.
“You Can See The Zork In The Earth”
First Published: May 23, 1983
This is a Far Side cartoon where silly dips into outright strangeness; which, for fans of The Far Side, makes for some of the best comics. In this panel, an alien parent on the moon points to the distant planet Earth and explains to its kid how, “if you squint your eyes just right, you can see the zork.”
Uh, what? Well, the bizarre part of the joke is that the aliens have continent-shaped bodies. It is definitely Gary Larson’s most out there vision of the form alien life could take, and one of his more simultaneous elaborate and niche punchlines. Which is exactly why it stands out among The Far Side’s moon-based humor.
The moon as a setting here is less about the visual and more about perspective. It’s the only vantage point from which this joke works, and it highlights Gary Larson’s perennial outsider POV.
“Dear Henry”: (The Far Side Treads The Line Between Humor And Horror)
First Published: June 29, 1981
This early Far Side comic is perfect down to every last detail. In the panel, an astronaut who has just been stranded on the moon stands next to the American flag and reads the “Dear Henry” letter his crew left for him: “Where were you? We waited and waited and finally decided that…”
Nearby, the imprint left by their lander remains on the moon’s surface. The departing landing capsule can be seen rocketing back toward Earth in the top left corner of the frame. In other words, wherever Henry was (a question The Far Side leaves unresolved) he got back to the landing site just a few minutes too late. Nobody in cartoons did tragicomedy quite like The Far Side, and this is a timeless example.
With jokes like this, Gary Larson threaded the needle between absurd and realistically terrifying. What if an astronaut crew had to leave a member behind on a mission? It’s a premise that could make for gutwrenching drama, but this Far Side cartoon instead turns it into a riff on getting dumped by mail, or left behind by a group of friends.
- Writer
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Gary Larson
- Colorist
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Gary Larson
